St. John’s cruise to 10-wicket win
View(s):By M. Shamil Amit
St. John’s College, Jaffna was home for lunch as they cruised to a convincing 10-wicket win over traditional rivals Jaffna Central College in the 117th Battle of the North big match concluded at the Central ground in Jaffna yesterday.
The Johnians established a strong position by the end of the second day, with the Centralites struggling at 140 for 9 in their second innings, holding onto a slim lead of 69 runs.
On the final day, the Centralites managed to add only nine more runs before being bowled out for 149. This set the Johnians a target of 79 runs, which they achieved effortlessly with openers Uthayanan Abijoyshanth and Anderson Sachin guiding them to victory in the 15th over. This win marked the Johnians’ 39th victory in the series, surpassing the 29 wins by the Centralites.
Shakadevan Sayanthan of Jaffna Central was named the best batsman, while St. John’s claimed five awards — Arulaseelan Kavishan as the best bowler, Jeyachandran Ashnath as the best fielder, Nesakumar Jeizal as the best all-rounder, Sangeeth Gremesmith as the best wicketkeeper, and Uthayanan Abijoyshanth as the man of the match.
Captain of St. John’s College, Nesakumar Ebenezer Jeizal, receives the trophy from Amila Tissera, the Regional Manager of Dialog Axiata PLC, watched by (from left) Nirmalan Nanthakumar (Regional Manager, Seylan Bank), V.S.B. Thuseetharan (Principal, St. John’s College), J. Indrakumar (Principal, Jaffna Central), Jeyarajasingam Iyngararaj (Assistant Manager, Social Innovation, Dialog Axiata PLC) and Deva Srinath (District Manager, Dialog Axiata PLC)
SCORECARD
Jaffna Central 1st innings 157 all out (56.5) (Shakadevan Sayanthan 55, Ranjithkumar Newton 24, Sathakaran Similtan 22, Kevin Derixon 15; Arulseelam Kavishan 5/34, Kugathas Mathulan 3/52)
St. John’s Jaffna 228 all out (70.4) (Nesakumar Jezial 52, Anderson Sachin 40, Uthayanan Abijoyshanth 39, Mahendran Kinthushan 22, Murfin Randya 22; Thakuthas Abilash 4/24, S. Thison 4/64, Sudarshan Arushanth 2/24)
Jaffna Central 2nd innings
Arumaithural Sinthujan run out 04
Sathakaran Similtan c Jezial b Randya 21
Kevin Derixsan c Smith b Kajarnan 00
Sutharsan Anushanth lbw b Kajarnan 20
Rajithkumar Newton c Jezial b Ashnath 17
Shakadevan Sayanthan c Smith b Samson 16
Nishan Sathakaran c Ashnath b Samson 23
Thakuthash Abilash b Mathulan 11
Antanreshan Abishek
c Abijoyshanth b Ashnath 01
Vikneshwaran Paruthi lbw b Kinthushan 20
S. Thison not out 05
Extras (b7, lb1, nb2, w1) 11
Total (all out: 57.1 overs) 149
Fall of wickets: 1-8, 2-8, 3-34, 4-60, 5-70, 6-99, 7-114, 8-121, 9-127, 10-143.
Bowling: Kugathas Mathulan 12-1-34-1, Arulseelan Kavishan 6-2-10-0, Kirupananthan Kajakarnan 16-9-28-2, Murfin Randya 6-1-20-1, Jeyachandran Ashnath 9-1-30-2, Stanley Samson 8-2-19-2, Mahendran Kinthushan 0.1-0-0-1,
St. John’s Jaffna 2nd innings
Uthayanan Abijoyshanth not out 50
Anderson Sachin not out 30
Extras (nb1) 01
Total (0 wicket; 15 overs) 81
Bowling: Sutharsan Anushanth 5-0-25-0, S. Thison 2-0-12-0, Rajithkumar Newton 3-1-5-0, Thakuthash Abilash 4-0-26-0, Vikneswaran Paruthi 1-0-17-0